Thanks to Aela Mass and the lovely people at Babble for naming Appellation Mountain one of the Top 25 Pregnancy Blogs of 2013! I’m delighted to be among such distinguished company.
It also speaks to how truly important names have become in 2013. Once upon a time, the kind of name stories that I try to bring forward for consideration were rare. We had baby name books, skinny little paperbacks with alphabetical lists. And we had our friends and family to suggest that we name the baby after Uncle Louie or that glamorous actress or why not just Bill?
Today we’re rich with options – for the paths we follow in our lives, and for the hopes and dreams we have for our children. Names are a small part of that tremendous possibility. The community around naming can be wonderfully generous and supportive, too, and so very helpful when our friends and family are puzzled that we haven’t chosen a name yet.
So if you’re visiting for the first time, welcome! A brand new Baby Name of the Day is posted every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Mondays are re-run days, where I revisit a past Baby Name of the Day. (I’ve been blogging names since January 2008, so many of them need a refresh!) Fridays are lists of different names – everything from lists of formal names for popular short forms like Max or Ellie to lists of names from a category, like Girls’ Names Ending with R or Place Names for Globetrotters. Some of my favorites posts are The Hermiones and The Katnisses.
As it happens, I’m a little short of name of the day nominations at the moment, so if you’re curious about a specific name, feel free to nominate it below. It will likely be a few months before I get to them, but I’d love to hear which names have captured your imagination.
I’d like to nominate Esperance! I came across this in France recently but I’m told it’s also a popular name in Spain – Esperanza, or Espe. I just love the sound and meaning of the French Esperance (hope). I am from Austtalia where this is also a place name for a gorgeous part of the west coast.
How about the following?:
Treva
Luther
Marin (on its own, separate from Maren)
Oh, I forgot two more, Bluebell and Tigerlily.
I’d love to nominate Laurelin, Fairlie, Fae, and Jancy.
I would love to see Alifair/Alafair profiled.
I recently saw a movie with a male character named Meritt. I love it! Can you tell us more about it? I tried to find a bit of info and came up short.
Wow it looks like you’ve got plenty of nominations already. I’m going to add a few names we’re considering for our first little bubba.
Clancy
John
Heather
Congrats!!!!!!! I’ll nominate some of my new crushes: Koa, Aluna, and Kesed. Thanks!
Oh, and Clea! You should do a post on Clea.
I second Lucy. Also what about Elliana, Joelle, Willa, Isolde, Remy, or Victoria?
There are some fantastic suggestions here! If I could, I’d love to second Thebe, Tesni, and Miriel.
I’d love it if you’d revisit Callum! It’s the name of my feisty little two year old. 🙂
I nominated these via email a couple years ago: Lota (my late grandmother’s name) and Navarone (a very oblique reference to my late father, via one of his favorite movies, The Guns of Navarone). I really would love some background on Lota since my brother and SIL are considering it as a middle name for their baby due this fall. I have heard that in Urdu it’s the name of a vessel used to clean oneself after going to the bathroom, but I’m not sure if the pronunciation would be the same.
The two names I’m interested in are Zev (boy) and Lurene, not Lurlene (girl).
Lurene is a family name and I can’t find much of anything about it other than it’s related to Lorelei.
I also really dig another family name I uncovered, Mathurine also spelled Maturine, but no English speaker will go with a name containing the word “urine”, plus the pronunciation issues…. I’ve only really seen it on a list of Québécois names, which is where the ancestral Mathurine lived.
Congratulations!
I would love to learn more about the name Illyria!
Congrats!
I’m not a newbee but I know a girl called Tanith and her name completely fascinates me so can I nominate that for name of the day please?
I nominate Lorraine and Edna.
I’ll nominate two girl’s, boy’s, and unisex names that have each been on my mind recently:
Kirsten, Patricia
Adam, Paul
Jordan, Morgan
(I searched your site to see if it appears you’ve done them yet or not.)
Name nominations for girls: Tesni, Anezka
Name nominations for boys: Romare, Keats
Names to suggest: Lucy (you’ve got long versions, but not Lucy itself), Mary (would love to hear your take on the classic), Jubilee, Miriel,
I’ve always been curious about my mom’s name, Barcy. There is a little cluster of girls with that name in my central Ohio town, born in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. My grandma thought it meant “my little Irish sweetheart” when she named her, but I don’t think that’s true…
Congratulations!
Name of the day nominations for boys: Argus, Carew, Jolyon, Madoc, Ogden
Name of the day nominations for girls: Aphra, Celandine, Dagmar, Eglantine, Thebe
Oooh! How about the name ‘Epiphany’? And, in your humble genius, what nicknames could reasonably be used with it?